You Found Me
by Hqudsi45
Summary: Booth is dead and Brennan is a wreck. Desperate to know everything about the man she loved, she searches out his father, and discovers something greater than she could have ever dreamed of. Post 100th.Bad summary, but I promise a enjoyable read. R
1. Chapter 1

Hey all, I'm back again! And after watching that 100th episode, I'm pumped! I'll tell you, the way Brennan said "I know," at the end? Gosh, that damn near broke my heart. My theory as of right now for how the show is going to go is that Booth is going to try to leave. Why, you ask? Because, it's Brennan who wants it to still work! She's the one who wanted to still work with him and I think Booth is just going to get tired of it and try to leave. Yes, I know, he'd be another person leaving her, but I think that's what ultimately is going to have to spur her to action and make our favorite non-couple, a couple! Also, did anyone else notice that when Sweet's specifically asked if they had slept together, Brennan didn't answer and deflected? I realized it like the 8th time I watched it lol.

Anyways, this is a story I've been thinking about/working on for a while and it's somewhat dark, so you're forewarned but I think avid B&B fans should enjoy this.

Summary: Booth is dead and Brennan is a wreck. Desperate to know everything about the man she loved, she ferrets out his father, and discovers something greater than she could have ever asked for. Post 100th.

Disclaimer: I in no way shape or form own Bones. But if I did, that 100th episode would have gone a litttttttle differently. At least the end. You know what I mean BB faithful ;).

Brennan couldn't believe it. She wouldn't believe it. There was no way he was gone. She knew she had pushed him away, but she didn't want this. The tears came in waves and she could do nothing to stop them.

She shouldn't have come, she knew that, as she wouldn't have for the last, but this was all too sudden. Knowing how he had felt, how everything had been going it just didn't seem possible. This was his second funeral in 2 years, but this time, she knew it was real. It was open casket, and she would know the truth as soon as she stepped up to pay her respects to the man that she really did love. _Had_ loved now. She thought back to her last night they had spent together.

_Booth was unnaturally quiet. He had been somewhat reserved since their discussion outside of Sweet's office, however he had, for the most part, acted as if nothing had happened. She had played along and things were seemingly back to normal with them. _

_But this was their first time back at the diner together, and she was concerned as to what was going through his mind._

"_Are you okay, Booth?"_

_He looked up from his plate quickly and then looked back down again. "Yeah, Bones, I'm fine. Just thinking about some things."_

_She took a bite of her salad before prodding further. "Like what?"_

"_Just stuff, you know Bones?" Her look told him she wouldn't back down and so he sighed before continuing. "I've just been considering the possibilities of what could happen if you know, something happened. To me, that is. I mean, what would happen to Parker. And to," He looked up and was startled to find tears glistening in her eyes._

"_Me?" She finished softly._

"_I—yeah Bones," He knew he would have reached over and held her hand if things were normal, but as it was, things were not normal and he decided not to tread on ground that was fast disappearing. "Just… I want you to promise me two things."_

_She stared on as an indicator for him to continue and he continued._

"_Promise, you'll look after Parker if anything _does _happen to me. I know he has Rebecca and Super dude over there but, I want him to remember a part of me and my life too. And second," His look became determined ,"I want you to promise me you'll find happiness. That you'll find something and hopefully someone that you really will love in thirty, or forty or even fifty years." He barely managed to choke out the parts and moved to leave._

"_Booth, what are you saying? _Why _are you saying this? What's wrong?" Her tone became demanding and Booth just smiled softly._

"_Goodbye, Bones."_

That had been the last time she saw him before she received the call in the middle of the night that set her on the roller coaster ride that left her standing in front of his casket.

'_All because he just had to play the hero._' Brennan thought bitterly.

But that was who he had been. And this was how he would have wanted it, him dying saving a young girl from what probably would have been a rape. Stabbed in the heart, they had told her. His body had been found the next night. She shuddered of the thought of his body laying so exposed in that alleyway for so long.

As she placed the rose on his chest, her eyes slowly up to his face, where she felt her heart twist, but her brain pause. His mandible was more pronounced, wasn't it? As she moved closer to inspect it, a powerful looking man, whom she assumed was FBI, grabbed her arm and led her away.

"Ma'am, that is a federal agent. Please do not desecrate the body."

She glared at him, irked that he wouldn't let her finish her examination. Something there had not been right and she had to make sure.

"I am _not _desecrating the body. I'm simply inspecting it due to an anomaly I believe I saw," She turned to head back towards the coffin before two sets of arms grabbed her. "Get your hands off of me!"

She tried to struggle, but they were too strong together. "Booth! Booth, stop them! Please, you have to be alive! Stop them!" Turning hysterical, the truth began to sink in that her knight in shining armor was truly gone. _"Booth!"_

Sobs wracked her body as the two men led her outside and as she glanced for the last time at the coffin on the platform, she whispered the name of the man she had loved more than anyone once more.

"Booth…"

_Let me know what you think. Yeah, Brennan's got quite the eye doesn't she? ;) Stay tuned!_


	2. Chapter 2

The empty bottle of scotch ricocheted off the wall above his television. So what if it broke? Nothing mattered anymore anyways. He was the broken one now.

Two months, eighteen days and an odd number of hours since he had put his heart on the line. Yet the pain hadn't lessened. In fact, the void in Booth's heart seemed to grow bigger and bigger each day he saw her. His Bones. Each day he worked with her, interacted with her.

She had been the reason he had dumped Catherine. In retrospect, that may not have been the best idea as his time was now consumed with work, drinking and gambling. His father often came to mind with every burning swig he took, but he didn't care anymore. And he knew he had relapsed, but what else was he to do? There was nothing in his life left to care for anymore, except for his son. And even there, he had begun to shy away from Parker, not wanting the boy to have to deal with his emotionally handicapped father.

The tears were the one constant in his life now though. He nearly laughed at the thought that he was a weepy drunk, but he quelled the sensation, not feeling worthy enough to even smile.

He glanced around and took in his current surroundings. No less than 50 empty bottles of vodka, scotch and whiskey lay strewn about. He held off the urge at work, but as soon as he was in his home, the drinking began. Often, he would head down the street to the bar that had the nice pool tables and gamble his way to big money. A real gambling trip, Vegas perhaps, would most definitely be in his future.

He laughed bitterly at the thought as his eyes roamed the apartment before settling on his gun. That route would be altogether too easy. And he was never the kind of man to take the easy road out. He was a Ranger and he would keep grinding until all was right again.

And that was when the call came in.

"Booth,"

"Agent Booth, this is Special Agent Trent Haskins from Philadelphia. I'm usually all for pleasantries, but I'm in a bit of bind right now, so I'll cut right to the chase. We need an agent on an undercover op and we could really use someone like you for it."

He sat up, suddenly intrigued at what was being offered.

"How long?"

"We can discuss that more in depth at another time."

He paused at the vague response, but continued after a moment, "What's the cover?"

"You'll be posing as hired muscle in a gang where you'll need to earn their trust and work your way up. This is deep cover Agent Booth." Haskin's voice lowered. "This is going to be a trying assignment and you are no doubt going to want to share the details. But, you must understand, you cannot tell your son, any of your friends and even your partner the truth. For this mission," Agent Haskins paused, "You must be declared dead."

Booth's jaw ached at the remembrance of Brennan's powerful smack. He couldn't hurt her like that again. Not when everyone else she cared about had already left her. Not when he had actually _promised_ to tell her next time he was, _dead._

But as he searched his gut for the answer to what he should do, he realized it was for the best. She would be able to move on that way and perhaps he could gain a little closure himself.

'_Like that's going to happen'_

"I…I'm in. I'm guessing I'll need to come to Philly?" Philly. So many memories in his old hometown. This would be an interesting homecoming, but he was going to have to be careful to avoid anyone from his past.

"Excellent. We've already spoken with your director and you've been cleared to join us. We'll be sending agents by to escort you to the rendezvous point so as to avoid any problems. They'll be there in three days to receive you. We've also made preparations for your funeral. Hope open casket is okay," Haskins finished dryly.

Booth's shocked look must have transferred over the phone because Haskins continued quickly.

"We've managed to, shape, a cadaver in your image. It is _identical _and will help allay any suspicions that you aren't truly dead this time."

'_They really wanted me.'_

Booth hesitated. What would Parker think of him? More importantly, what would Bones think of him when he came back? But he could mend bridged with his son, eventually. Bones, though, if she didn't accept him back, it was still for the best. They both would benefit from the distance. His mind made up, he commited.

"Alright. I'll be ready in the morning"

"Very good, Agent Booth. We'll see you soon." The line disconnected and he was left to meander in his own thoughts.

Dying once and coming back? That was pretty good. Dying twice and coming back? He would be a freaking legend. Booth smiled somberly as he stood and stretched before shuffling off to his room.

'_Time to pack'_

In Philadelphia, Agent Haskins hung up the phone and looked to his superior.

"He's in, Robert."

"Excellent. We need the very best and we just got him." The older man paused and looked down onto his desk, where five Agent's files lay sprawled out, each marked in bold, 'DECEASED'. "I just hope being the best is to keep him from getting killed like the others."  
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_I'm sure you have an idea where this is going. The horrible summary I gave didn't help, but it'll get there, trust me. Tell me what you thought! A single line is good by me, but I enjoy multiple paragraph'd reviews too. :)_


	3. Chapter 3

Work. That was the only thing she wanted to think about right now. If she thought about her life, it would only depress her to the point where she shut down. But Temperance Brennan was excellent at doing something that many people could not: Compartmentalizing. And compartmentalize she would.

It had been two weeks since Booth's funeral. She had taken leave until now and with today being her first day back, she was determined to catch up on the work she had missed. She would stay cooped up in the office all day until a majority was done.

'_He wouldn't have let you.'_

Shaking her head, she flipped on her voice recorder, picked up the four hundred year old skull and started to note all of its markers so that Angela could later create a facial reconstruction. But as she moved to inspect the mandible, she paused her mind drifting back to the funeral.

There had most definitely been something off about Booth's mandible at the funeral. She hadn't thought much further on it since, mostly because she had been preoccupied with herself. Crying to sleep every night and sitting around her apartment had been unproductive, but somewhat ameliorating.

There hadn't been any facial hair on the body, which she supposed could have made it look smaller, but still, something bugged her. Her _gut _was telling her something and she wanted to allay the anxiety before it overtook her.

Setting down the skull, she moved to her desktop and pulled open a folder containing pictures of her and Booth. Tears slowly began to well in her eyes and she smiled at the various assortment of photographs they had taken together.

'_Never again' _A voice in her head reminded her.

Swiping at the tears, Brennan refocused on her search for a proper picture. Scrolling through, she finally found the one she was looking for and quickly inserted a flash drive into her computer. Angela could put it on her large screen for her to better examine it. Waiting for it to transfer, she recalled the moment it had been taken.

Booth had gotten tickets to go see the National's game and had pushed her into going with him. She had only relented because they were playing the Phillies, and Brennan knew there would be plenty of fodder for her to egg him on with, especially if by some miracle the Nat's could pull out a victory.

The picture had been taken midway through the game, when Booth's camera had dropped to the seat in front of him. The person who picked it up had turned around and offered to take their photo. Their happy faces were the result and she felt even more sadness pull at her heart looking at the memory. The drive binged its transfer completion and Brennan pulled it out and stared at it.

She was going with her gut here, something she had refused to do on many other occasions, including the night that had ended any chance of a relationship between them. But for this, she had to be sure. He had faked his death once and this time could have just been a better attempt.

It sounded ridiculous, she knew, but she had to be sure. Because a life without Booth… It wasn't going to be much a life at all.

With renewed confidence, she strode off in search of the artist. Temperance Brennan was a woman on a mission and she was going to find out what she needed to know.

Shots rang out in the dark as Booth ducked through another alley. Sprinting along, he turned into another alleyway and slowed before ducking behind a dumpster. Catching his breath, Booth wondered what in God's name had possessed him to take this job.

This mission was far more difficult than any other he had ever been on and for an ex-Army Ranger, that was saying something.

He heard noises coming from behind his position, and he snuck a quick glance to see what he was up against. There, ahead two of his "associates" were moving toward him. With any luck, they would walk right by him, but Booth knew better than to rely on dumb luck. He was always prepared.

Pulling his weapon out, he inspected to make sure the silencer was still on properly. He didn't need more unwanted company. Once assured it was properly in place, he slid onto his stomach and pulled himself under the dumpster. He could see their feet approaching quick and knew he had to time this just right.

He only had to wait a few more seconds before they slowed, nearing the dumpster to peek around where he had been hiding just moments before. One moved to the front and swung around to make sure he wasn't hiding in the corner. Booth took advantage and pointed his gun at the first man's leg. Shooting it out, the man fell yelling in pain while his partner swiveled.

Booth put another bullet in him to silence him and then turned his attention to the other, quickly disposing of him with another two bullets.

Dragging himself out from underneath, Booth grimaced at the pools of blood while putting away his weapon.

"Sure hope no kids come around here." He muttered to himself as he turned around and walked towards the streets of the city. He had more work to do and the "bosses" wouldn't be happy if he didn't report back in. He had gotten the job done in taking out those two but he hadn't gained their trust just yet.

As he walked, his mind wandered to his partner, and he wondered how she was doing. He glanced at his watch, _8:32 PM, _and realized she was probably either at home or with another man. The latter thought particularly stung, but he knew that was more than likely the case.

With the body, he assumed it had been a much more convincing funeral this time, which had no doubt allayed any of her thoughts as to whether this was a hoax or not. Knowing Bones, though, if she had caught even the slightest discrepancy, she wouldn't be afraid to cry foul.

Regardless, his cohorts at the FBI had assured him no one, not even the famous Dr. Brennan, would be able to notice that it wasn't really him. And he had no reason to doubt them, especially considering how their intel had been nothing short of spectacular on this mission.

Clearing his head, Booth walked on with his head down. Time to go make nice with some more bad guys.

_And that's another chapter. This is going to be a fairly long fic and honestly, I'm so surprised at how much I've already written. Drop me a line and tell me what you think! Trust me, it helps me a lot and also keeps me inspired. We want that, right? Yeah, so review! Please :)_


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